


If You Can See Me

by EdgeOfSanity



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Friendship, Gen, Harry Had To Weasel His Way In, Hello I'm ruined and you are?, Humor, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Not Slash, One Shot, Other, head cannons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 08:03:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5449331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdgeOfSanity/pseuds/EdgeOfSanity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki and Tony enjoy a rare 'movie night' in and end up discussing head cannons in Harry Potter, what Tony doesn't expect however are the feels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If You Can See Me

**Author's Note:**

> Btw, this isn’t intended to be slash. Really, it’s basically friendship…unless your prevy minds view it as such. You saucy things. ;) Mainly Tony’s POV.
> 
> Enjoyxx

Loki made a mad dash for the remote before Tony came back with the popcorn. Tony just sighed and shook his head, sitting the popcorn between them before flopping on the sofa and propping his feet on the coffee table, hoping they didn’t have to sit through another marathon of Scandal or Once Upon A Time. Kerry Washington was undeniably hot - and someone you could actually have a intelligent and thought provoking conversation with, he could give Loki that, but he knew the only real reason the god watched it was because he’s a sucker for ‘power play’ in politics. As for Once Upon A Time, let’s just say Tony had about enough of mythology and fairy tales coming to life and too close for comfort to last him an eternity.

However, it came as a surprise to Tony when Loki chose Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows Part 1 instead.

“Wow. I thought you didn’t like Harry Potter? I mean, isn’t it common for Hollywood to have a fallacy about the use of magic?”

“I do. You assumed I didn’t. It doesn’t matter because the books are brilliant.”

“I also assumed you had a strong dislike for Netflix when you hurled the TV out the window after getting angry about not finding the ‘search’ option.”

“I admit…perhaps I overreacted a bit. In all fairness someone should have enlighten me of locating the option in question.” He quirked an eyebrow, on most days Tony would’ve thrown a pillow at him and laughed, but at the moment he had a brief sense of disparagement. He was sure Loki didn’t mean anything by it, but with the size of an ego like Tony’s, it still got on his nerves sometimes.

So he did what he does best.

“It’s okay, Lokes, we all know you were still PMS-ing from your stint in Asgard.”

And that is how you make a certain Silver Tongue become flustered and appalled. Easy Peasy. Why isn’t he getting paid for this?

If Loki's glower could throw daggers... Well, Tony would no longer have trouble sleeping. Period.

“I…I was not ‘PMS-ing’ as you so wrongfully put it! I simply had a lot on that particular morning. Adding insult to injury, I was badly bruised from battle with that slimy, foul, creature threatening to take over Boston, while my insatiable brother would not stop ranting on about those wretched Poptarts as soon as we got in.”

Now there was a something Tony would have to get used to - Loki even using the word 'brother' in a sentence was surprising. He snickered at Loki trying to appear anything but offended (interestingly, he noted that the god isn’t so adapt at keeping his calm under mockery as he would have everyone think), he knew Loki couldn’t yet bring himself to say it in front of Thor, but he had slowly began to use it in conversations with the other Avengers.

Speaking of, obviously this conversation would be viewed as odd to anyone outside of their diverse little group of superheroes, and Tony still has trouble believing things were going this smoothly. Not without Loki’s usual demanding way, tremendous strength, magic (who could get used to that?), and recently exploding a newly brought microwave of course, but smoothly as a mortal mixing with a god in one household could get. Loki seemed constant with his living arrangements, seeing as they both shared a love for science and intelligence, he’d since taught Tony a few things no other mortals were aware of, and mainly due to the fact that Fury still refused to trust him completely – who could blame him with a nickname like ‘Trickster God’? Although, things had begun to look up after he showed much promise of good behavior, apologizing to the general public (what choice did they have but to agree when Mjölnir was in plain view), and finally having it register that he didn’t need to go completely psycho on lesser beings in order to achieve what he wanted. Which basically turned out to be understanding and more than a little family rehabilitation. Tony cringed at the thought of a Frost Giant and two Norse gods sitting in one room discussing their dysfunctional family, feeling bad for the specialist who probably had to see one of their own. He gave Fury props for having some serious connections. So, Loki was for the most part forgiven and all is well, et cetera. That probably isn’t the exact detail of how it went down, but then Tony had never been one for sentiments – he is perfectly happy getting the bare facts and going straight to the point. He was just glad the world was safe and no longer under a rain of attacks from aliens, creepy crawlies from the Underworld or whatever the hell. Lately things had been quiet, he didn’t know if that should worry him or not given the amount of invasions Earth had in recent years, but figured he should honestly just enjoy the peace while it lasted.

“I can’t believe I actually needed to re-program Jarvis in order to stop the lock downs.”

Loki crossed his arms, barely containing a grin.

“I apologized didn’t I? Can we watch the film now?”

“Of course, anything for your royal brat-ness.”

“Very mature.”

\--xx--

Needless to say everything that evening was going fine, for once no one interrupted a rare ‘movie night’ in. Natasha dragged Clint off on some random mission in Bangkok this morning, Bruce immersed himself in his experiments (there was a small tremor once, but since no screaming drifted up from the lab Tony figured he was alive), Steve was out visiting an Art gallery - something he never had a chance to do seventy years ago, Thor was off visiting Jane…

Well, right up until the credits that is. Tony had no idea where the idea came from, but the words just flowed and suddenly there was something about feelings and he decided he really ought to stay away from those weird fan fiction sites.

Maybe.

“You know, I've read the books and seen the movies a hundred times, but I never understood why Draco didn't rush to save Hermione when she was captured by Bellatrix?”

“Possibly they wanted to showcase Hermione’s endurance for such situations? Or due to Draco’s pride, and his blatant view on Muggle-borns, he didn’t want to blow his chances of surviving by consorting with the enemy.”

“Good points. But I like to think Draco never used the term 'mudblood' again after seeing what his aunt did to Hermione. I mean...did you not see his face? There was an awful lot of fucking inner turmoil going on in that scene.

“I highly doubt he would have run to her aid so quickly. Mind you, Lucius -”

“Why? What if things had turned out so differently that Dobby was never killed,” He hadn’t meant to cut Loki off so abruptly, but damn if he wasn’t on a roll. “What if Draco knew she had a dagger and decided to finish her off instead, not giving her any time to hold Hermione?”

“Given how much you like the anomalous little creature, would that not leave Mrs. Weasley without a scene of her own? Also, Bellatrix was indeed a powerful witch, Draco may not have had a single chance if she caught on to what he was planning.”

Tony frowned; Loki always had an answer for everything. The spoiled little shit.

“Okay, Reindeer. Would you rather Mrs. Weasley knock Bellatrix into the afterlife, or see Ferret Face stand up for what he believes in?”

Loki huffed. He’d grown fond of the mortal phrase ‘OTP’, Hermione and Draco as a pairing list among his top favorite. Not that Tony needed to know that of course. Nope. So he didn’t feel defensive at all against that little insult. If Harry hadn’t of been drawn by Draco’s taunts, Moody would have never used that spell…fine, so it was a weak theory, but a weak theory is better than no theory.

Which is precisely why he changed the subject. A little.

“Hermione is clearly the backbone of the group and undeniably deserved a moment of her own after SEVEN years. That said, if Bellatrix had been defeated early by Draco, he would have indefinitely died before reaching the final battle by either Voldemort or some other follower of his - that scene at Malfoy Manor may have been less powerful had Draco decided to end her life then and there. Therefore, your point is invalid.” He finished the last bit triumphantly. Tony wanted to smack him.

“Aw, does someone have a crush on Emma Watson?”

“Absolutely not. She is a child compared to say, Natasha, fairly intelligent and appealing, but a child no less.” His answer came out in a rush and Tony couldn’t help but run with this, his grin was a mile long. It instantly made Loki think of that weird children’s program he was forced to watch with Clint one day as punishment, it showed a talking yellow sponge smiling foolishly at his octopus neighbor after finding out some secret about him. Loki would never admit that he laughed inwardly at the end, nor would he ever turn everyone’s channel to show strictly what he wanted to see after Bruce put shaving cream in his hair gel. Because even gods get friz now and then.

“Ah ha! I knew you kept glancing at Tash for a reason his morning, you were practically pouting when she went off with Clint.”

“No! It’s not like that. She had something in her teeth. I swear it, Stark, if you take this out of context and breathe word to anyone, I will personally put you through a wall MYSELF!”

“Hm, wish I cared.” Tony chirped and paid the god’s threat no attention whatsoever. He was too busy trying to figure why Loki carried a look of sorrow below that empty attempt at intimidation. Nah, if anything ‘Hulk’ was the very definition of intimidation.

Is he hiding his true thoughts about something else entirely, or is he just screwing with my head for effect?

Loki sat back and waved a hand, already dismissing their little ‘tiff’ as Stark being his usual inane, egoistic self. “In any case, I like to think Charity Burbage and Severus Snape were an item once upon ago, but broke it off due to Charity accepting that she could never compete with an image from his past. Because unlike Voldemort, Severus had known what it meant to love someone. That is my head cannon.”

Tony did a double take, eyebrows shooting up to his hairline.

“Seriously? YOU know what a ‘head cannon’ is? You HAVE a head cannon? Did you poison me? I knew that last bag of popcorn looked suspicious.” He wondered if he’d forgotten to clear his browser at some point. Loki possessed magic way beyond any mortal’s comprehension on earth, so who knows what he could do with a simple Internet connection and some coding?

“It would look suspicious to anyone with the amount of caramel you added to it. I’m not completely inept, Anthony.” He stood and strode into the kitchen, mumbling words that Tony thought he would never hear. “Much as you’ll have the rest of your friends believe.”

Wit. It was something he heavily relied on when things got to the crux of the matter; it was his fucking safety net. In short, Tony Stark did not do ‘heartfelt’ moments. Then why did he think there was more to this than just discussing plot lines from Harry Potter? Why was Loki opening up to him now?

And did he just call me Anthony!? Well, I don’t really like it, but I don’t hate it either…a step up from ‘you, trifling and incompetent ignoramus flatfoot!’ for sure.

“Oh c’mon, they’re your friends too. Sort of. We live together now,” They shared a looked that crossed into uncharted territory, causing Tony to reiterate. “Okay, weird choice of words, but that’s how far we’ve come. Consider it an attainment.”

“You must be joking,” Loki returned to the sofa bearing an arm full of sweets, already clicking rapidly and scrolling through the ‘Horror’ section on the flat screen. “They hate me, they’ll never trust me no matter what I do and I can’t say I blame them. Did you fail to see the murderous look on Barton’s face the other day?”

“Loki, that was because you went into his secret stash and ate all of his Twinky’s. Then you proceeded to make a medium size ball out of the wrappings, which you threw at the waste basket, missed might I add, and it bounced off and landed into his soup. That was right after we brought you Kit-Kats! Never touch a man’s secret stash of Twinky’s. Never.”

“Doesn’t matter. They are like Elephants, they refuse to forget.” Loki shrugged, all this ‘bonding’ was making him uneasy and he preferred to file it away in his ‘Things to never share with Tony Stark…but end up sharing them anyway when no one else is present’ folder.

“Wounds sometimes heal overnight, others seemed to take a lifetime.” Tony meant it as rhetorical, but apparently Loki took it vitally because he seemed to perk up a bit.

“I suppose I'm in the lifetime 'region'.”

“Not anymore.”

And now they were making eye contanct, leaving Tony unsure if things were about to get very awkward and he would end up explaining for both of them in the morning - possibly blaming alcohol, or if he should start calling for his suit.

Yeah, this was not how he planned a night in. Time to steer this back in the ‘normal’ direction.

“You know, I like to think Dennis Creevy came back to the castle to steal a portrait of his brother, because he couldn't deal with the guilt he felt of trying to abandon the War, especially when his brother ended up getting killed.”

There. That was safe. Understandable. On topic. Not too sensitive, just two (moderately) simple guys discussing Harry Potter…

Yeah, anyway.

“Are you mad? You can’t steal anything from Hogwarts!”

“He was employed and allowed access.”

“Oh, what was he doing then?”

“I haven’t gotten that far…er, dusting the portraits?”

Cue eye roll.

“Valhalla, Stark. You are exasperating! You actually think they need the portraits dusted? Are we on this silly subject still?”

Yep. Back to normal, ‘Anthony’ must have been a Freudian slip.

“Stranger things have happened.”

“No, it isn’t possible. Ever,” Loki shook his head sadly, finally settled on watching Hellraiser. “How does Pepper put up with your illogicality without becoming overwrought.”

“She was already ‘overwrought’ when I met her, I only made it worse so now she has no choice but to ignore it completely or go insane -”

“I’m amazed she hasn’t sought professional help.”

“You’re one to talk, and besides, rude much? I was right in the middle of a joke!”

“What kind of a joke is that? Insanity is no laughing matter. I should know.”

There he goes again. Knowing full well Tony did not want to start sharing hugs and exchanging phone numbers. Metaphorically speaking of course.

“What? You really ought to get one of those ‘for dummies’ books. I was talking about lust.”

“Lust? You!?” Loki coughed. Either from a piece of that king sized Hershey bar going down the wrong pipe, or Tony had completely caught him off guard again, and fuck did he love to give him a dose of his own medicine. “I think you and I were perhaps switched at birth, you are definitely worthy of being Thor’s brother.”

“As if. He hates me anyway.”

“No he doesn’t, you just get on his nerves like you do everyone else.”

They both jumped at the voice suddenly behind them, Loki glared while Tony smirked.

“Clint, when did you get in?”

“I’ve been sitting behind the couch for the last two hours. Jesus, you two can yap! Hey, which of you two girl’s are getting the pedi?”

“Whatever, bird boy. Why didn’t you say anything?” Tony mused, shifting the popcorn closer to his side. Clint had a pension for being the first to eat all of the popcorn in the house, without saying a word of apology. The way he saw it, if you snooze you lose.

“I figured it wasn’t relevant. That, and I wanted to steal a piece of Baby Ruth,” He snapped his fingers, plans now indisputably ruined. “Hey, it’s only fair.”

Loki looked on pensively. Evidently this was not his preferred way of sarcasm. “’Yap’? Do we sound like canines to you? You should consider getting your hearing checked.”

Clint stared at Loki exasperatingly before marching off in the direction of the ventilation system, where one could only guess how he recuperated long periods of time. Tony swore he once saw a fossil of an unidentified animal in there while trying to bribe the archer down to floor level, Natasha had just beaten him in a spurring match and he claimed there was an awful lot of cheating.

“Never mind.”

“At least I don’t sashay off when a joke falls flat!” Tony yelled and had barely enough time to dodge a lone arrow as it made it’s way swiftly past his face, causing Loki to snicker at his expense. Thus, a pillow or two is thrown until Loki promises to do the dishes tomorrow night...by hand.

The credits rolled and Loki snuck a glance at the now sleepy billionaire before hurriedly deciding to take the plunge.

“Actually, Stark, my brother mentioned to me once that you and the rest were the closest he had to a real family on Midgard, Jane and her friends go unmentioned of course. He trusted you. You were there for him especially when I…well, you know.” He made a dismissive gesture, as if what he revealed was said merely in passing and nothing more.

Tony blinked. That was the reason he had trouble processing the god’s true intentions. One minute he’s totally quiet, calculating, being perfectly irreverent and complex, and the next he says something that you never gave much thought to and wish you hadn’t taken whatever it was you were complaining about for granted.

Shit, what the hell Loki?

“Okay, so here’s the plan; I’m going to bed.”

There was a muffled reply of ‘you certainly know how to clear a room, Rudolph’ and Tony rapped on the ceiling with a fire poker, he heard a few shuffling noises and just knew Clint was still pouting. Only Tony owned the copyrights to call Loki that nickname, damn it.

“Stark, wait. I am not being deceitful, sincerely. If you must, ask him.”

Tony sighed, oh he dreaded that pitiful act Loki could put on so well, but this time he actually looked serious. He’d been bringing this personal stuff up off and on all day, and Tony realized it was probably the only way he knew how to share his perspective on things that were personal and what most people had no problem voicing their opinions on. Loki may not always be capable of identifying with the rest of them, mortal or otherwise, but whether he inadvertently sought their approval was something else.

“Yeah, sure, I believe you,” Tony felt like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He wasn't entirely sure if he trusted Loki with his life, but maybe ensuring him his friendship could suffice for now. “You’re still full of it, but I believe you.”

"Thank you…I think."

"Riveting. Can I go to bed now, miss Emo?" He glanced at his watch and saw that it was ten minutes past two o’clock in the morning, he had an early meeting and if he missed it again Pepper would confiscate his Stark Pads. Literally. He didn’t understand how she obtained that power over him, but he figured it was always nice to have a bit of mystery between them.

“You have my permission, Mr. Stark.”

“All right, don’t get weird.”

“Sorry.” Loki said snidely, turning off the television.

“Don’t worry, I usually…” Tony cut off his sentence as he noticed his freshly made bowl of popcorn sat suspiciously empty. “You dirty traitor!”

Loki shrugged. “I infer Barton’s not the only one you should worry about, eh? Honestly, keeping you occupied the whole time was a breeze.”

\--xx--

**Author's Note:**

> Must. Get. Off. Ship.
> 
> *grabs lifejacket (?), which deflates on contact*
> 
> Would ya look at that? Ho hum. Guess I'll drown now...
> 
> Okay there's one HC (short for ‘head cannon’) in this that's likely waaaaay off to most of you, but hey, most of HC is based purely on spectculation. The HC mentioned in this are my originals, but if we share the same HC, note that I wasn’t trying to steal it! – I would love it if we shared the same ideas and wouldn’t mind hearing some in the comments out of curiosity. I actually have no idea why I’ve come to ship FrostIron so hard right now, I feel like I’m cheating because I love Pep and Jane (*prepares herself for rotten tomatos and eggs being thrown*) but fuck if I’m stopping now. *runs proudly with torch – probably the only Doctor Who moment she’ll ever get close to*


End file.
